This road-rage incident is seriously one of the worst things I've ever seen (don't worry, he survived)

This is not the only study done on loud pipes and how it relates to motorcycle safety. The 1981 Hurt Report, North America’s best-known study on motorcycle safety, found that motorcycles with loud pipes were not less likely to be involved in crashes. In fact, loud pipes could cause a distraction or late reactions from drivers. The report states on page 421:

“The modified exhaust system was typical of many accident-involved motorcycles, and also typical of many motorcycles observed during exposure data collection. The modified exhaust is overrepresented in these data, but not with high significance.”

A Motorcycle Accidents In-Depth Study from Europe concluded that most motorcycle collisions occur at the front of the bike. Therefore, based on the aforementioned studies and the Doppler Effect, relying on loud pipes as an early warning to surrounding drivers could create a false sense of security of motorcycle riders.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/loud-pipes-save-lives-myth-or-fact/

I would guess that sometime just before this event the van driver tried to change lanes, not realizing that the motorcycle driver was in his blind spot. He corrected the error but the MC driver, frightened and then incensed, decided to express his displeasure.

I cycle for exercise....a few years ago I sold my carbon fiber, got off the bike paths, bought a commuter bike and took to the sidewalks to ride......not that that’s much safer but it’s better than being a speed bump. 😏

“Speaking for myself, it’s totally true that loud motors alert me to a close-by motorcycle.

There’s been countless hundreds of times over the past few decades of driving that I’ve heard a loud motor and glanced over, or behind, and was alerted to a motorcycle by me.”

The larger percentage of car related fatalities are from the front. Loud pipes do not help.

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